· The new www.warnerclassics.com has gone live in English, French and German
· Launch reaffirms Warner Music Group’s commitment to classical music in the digital age
· Website features a custom-built streaming player and integrated video
Warner Classics & Erato has launched an entirely new version of its website, www.warnerclassics.com, today.
A key driver for the new site is the growing number of music-lovers who are choosing to stream classical music online. Reflecting this crucial shift in behaviour, Warner Classics has integrated a custom-built streaming player into the site.
Anyone visiting will be able to sample 30 seconds of music from each track on the thousands of albums in the site’s database. Meanwhile, subscribers to the streaming services Apple Music, Deezer and Spotify will be able to stream entire tracks and works directly through warnerclassics.com.
Equally crucial to the conception and configuration of the new warnerclassics.com are the many music-lovers who continue to prefer to collect CDs, who are vinyl enthusiasts, or who opt for downloads.
Markus Petersen, SVP Global Operations & Business Development, Warner Classics & Erato, says: “We’re entering a new era for Warner Classics as our repertoire really starts to reap the benefits of digital distribution. One of our prime objectives is to provide ready and enjoyable access to new and recent releases of today’s finest classical artists as well as to Warner Classics’ magnificent catalogue.”
“We’re fortunate to serve a loyal community of music-lovers who are so passionate about the various genres of classical music and supportive of their favourite artists. We’re also looking forward to welcoming people who are less familiar with classical music and taking them on a journey of discovery.”
The website’s design – spacious, uncluttered, logical, and user-focused – offers an engaging experience. Enabling visitors to take an intuitive route to information and music, it encourages them to discover and to listen, and guides them through a wealth of content.
Custom-built for the site, the search engine is of prime importance: it offers both free-text search and filtering by pre-defined categories and criteria, thus adapting to the individual user’s knowledge of classical music and to any special interest in a particular artist, composer or format. The site also adjusts to the visitor’s physical location, offering localised content and instant access to national and regional online retailers and digital music platforms.
Video content and social media feeds, both important in the discovery and experience of classical music, are also integrated into the site.
The new warnerclassics.com has been designed by Piccobello, a German-based agency, while its technical infrastructure and content management system have been built by FFW Agency’s teams in Berlin and Ukraine.
